For this year’s annual architecture exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Pavilion of San Marino will present the Hosting Guest project. Curated by Michael Kaethler and Marco Pierini, this intervention is an authentic co-design workshop focused on hospitality-related issues, part of an international and multi-year research project based on real places and needs. Representing the oldest Republic in the world, Artist Vittorio Corsini will participate in the pavilion with the help of a research team of students, designers, and researchers from San Marino, Venetian, and international universities.

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Alejo Martínez, one of the main builders of Argentine modernity, turned the city of Concordia into a reference of the South American modernist movement. His extensive work on houses, such as Casa Péndola Díaz from 1925, Casa Marcone from 1928, or Casa Camaño from 1930, "changed the typology of the 'chorizo' house to compact housing, where straight volumes stand out, staggered from each other, and with terraces".

Curated by architecture and urban planning scholar Andong Lu, young architect Zigeng Wang and design curator Aric Chen, the 9th Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Shenzhen) continues the principle of "the city is the exhibition site, the exhibition is the practice" as the primary exhibition of UABB came to Luohu district for the first time. It was located in GDH City · Jinpi Fang (Kingway Brewery Industrial Heritage) and the exhibition opened in December 2022 and ran until March 2023, with over two hundred events held during the three-month exhibition period.

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In an ideal world, doors could seamlessly disappear and reappear, creating connections and barriers when needed to provide the ultimate flexibility. Domestic interiors increasingly combine work and leisure, requiring both conviviality and solitude, and the same is true of workspaces, which increasingly feature adaptable ways to link different zones and activities. Tried and tested spatial concepts such as open plan or many small, cellular rooms are no longer sufficient as, on their own, they do not provide real flexibility and adaptability.

Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará, has just implemented an intelligent lighting model for crosswalks. Installed at the Praça Portugal roundabout, in the middle of the intersection of two of the city's major roads, the system could help reduce traffic accidents.

Powered by artificial intelligence, the system is capable of detecting human presence based on movement. When the dynamic lighting is activated, light beams track pedestrians from the start to the end of the crosswalk. The light improves driver visibility, especially at this specific location, where vehicles navigate a curve.

From figurative panels depicting historical scenes to modernist abstract geometric compositions, ceramic tiles have been a constant presence across different styles and eras of Brazilian architecture over the centuries. Today, composition possibilities are vast, stemming not only from how the pieces are arranged—be it randomly or in structured patterns—but also from the wide range of colors and designs offered by manufacturers.

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Have you ever woken up and asked yourself how many hours you actually slept? Nowadays, a variety of devices such as smartwatches or smart bands are available to track your sleep, recognizing certain patterns to interpret your circadian rhythm and boost rest quality. Besides measuring and improving sleep duration and quality, understanding current and future trends for beds (and their surroundings) can be an important strategy for architects and designers to create effective environments for sleeping and relaxing. Through the analysis of nine different typologies, the following article showcases what we expect for the beds of the future, driven by technological advances, sustainable operations and space organization strategies.

Chiesi Group, a pharmaceutical company that focuses on research-based innovation, has prioritized the health of patients across all age groups for over 85 years. Seeking the development of the next healthcare landmark for innovation, they launched Restore to Impact, an international call for entries to redesign the historic industrial site in Via Palermo, Parma.

Open to two categories –Professionals and Under 30s– the competition aims to find innovative, evolutionary and transversal proposals that will be the basis for the guidelines of the future architectural building project. The winning proposals for the three eligible concepts for the professional category will receive € 12,000 each, while the Under 30 category will receive € 5,000 each.

One of the most important elements in architecture are the vertical circulations that are translated into elevators or stairs, and although some offices decide to approach it in a discreet way, some others choose to pay specific attention to it and turn it into a sculptural piece. Helicoidal staircases are some of the favorites when it comes to focusing attention and in our collective conscience we keep some iconic examples, as is the case of the staircase in the O'Gorman House, this piece gave a certain character to the work and it is almost impossible to imagine it without it.

No País dos Arquitectos is a podcast created by Sara Nunes, who is also responsible for the architectural film production company Building Pictures. The podcast aims to get to know the professionals, projects, and stories behind leading contemporary Portuguese architecture. With just over 10 million inhabitants, Portugal is a fascinating country when it comes to this professional field, and its architectural output punches far above its weight relative to its population or territorial scale.

In this fifth-season episode, Sara talks with architect Tiago Rebelo de Andrade about the Náutico Building. Listen to the conversation and read part of the interview below.

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Videos

The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.

A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.

This week Cavin Costello, Principal Architect of The Ranch Mine, joins David and Marina of FAME Architecture and Design to discuss his background; architecture school; starting an architecture practice with his wife, Claire Costello, and their working relationship; their approach to finding clients; and more!

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A UN survey revealed that in 2018, approximately 55% of the world's population lived in cities. This figure is projected to reach 60% by 2030. If urban centers are to become home to so many, evaluating these spaces and ensuring quality of life is essential – a challenge when considering population density and the impact of such large numbers.

Yet, urban living does not have to mean being cut off from nature, surrounded by gray and concrete. Green cities are proof of this. While life in urban centers poses a series of challenges, it also presents an opportunity to find solutions that transform these spaces, fostering significant and necessary societal change.

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The past week brought chaos and despair to thousands of Brazilian families living in the country's North and Northeast regions. Heavy rains hit cities in Pará, Maranhão, Acre, and Amazonas, flooding hundreds of homes while others were completely destroyed by currents.

From ancestral constructions to the "concrete of the future", terms abound to describe timber. Present in the history and horizon of world architecture, the material demonstrates a sustainable possibility and is associated with the coziness and warmth that it provides in the spatial atmosphere. In Brazil, it is no different. Several contemporary works explore the qualities and benefits of its use, including structural bias.

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A nature-based solution to clean up a tributary of the Capibaribe River will be implemented in Recife, Pernambuco. Known as filtering gardens, the system consists of a group of native aquatic plants that will filter the mouth of the Cavouco Stream. Considered a sustainable and low-maintenance technology, the filtering gardens will be installed along the section where the stream flows through Caiara Park in the western zone of the capital, where about 10% of the polluted water flow will be treated.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the operation of existing buildings are significantly higher than those generated by new construction—that is, from materials and their use during construction, which account for 25%, while building operations represent 75% of emissions. And this is without accounting for the vast number of buildings falling under the concept of energy poverty.

Against this backdrop, the 'Proyectar a Conciencia' (PAC) competition continues to advance the debate surrounding "building better versus improving what is already built" in its fifth edition. As always, the competition invited students and architects to present a vision of a better society through the energy retrofitting and partial physical transformation of institutional, private, or public infrastructure.

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When looking for inspiration for one’s home, the search for and observation of beauty in the surrounding world is often what fuels creative passion and gives rise to the desire to create something equally beautiful. It is essential, in these cases, to find designs that make homeowners feel at ease in their home environment, which is where Inkiostro Bianco comes in.

Danish Maritime Architecture Studio MAST, working together with the Municipality of Segrate, plans to transform a former sand quarry into a central park to reconnect the surrounding neighbourhoods and create a new destination for the residents of Milan, Italy. The abandoned quarry has left behind a unique landscape. The off]ice’s proposal includes a series of buildings along the lake’s perimeter linked by a public walkway and a cluster of islands in the centre of the lake. MAST is currently working with the Municipality of Segrate toward realising the project.

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Earlier this month, the Viva o Verde SP project was launched. The result of a partnership between the São Paulo Municipal Government and UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme), the initiative is set to guide new municipal public policies aimed at improving the quality of green public spaces.

Initially, improvements will be proposed for 111 parks across the city of São Paulo. The goal is to achieve equity in the spatial distribution and accessibility of public green areas. “This will be an ongoing effort, not just to expand the number of parks. They will conduct diagnoses starting with ten main parks, followed by a batch of 80 parks, eventually reaching all 111 parks, identifying the specific improvements that need to be made,” said Mayor Ricardo Nunes.

For this year’s 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Singapore Pavilion activates discussion on new methods of measuring and evaluating the intangible and asks explicitly: how much is enough? The exhibition explores a community’s interaction with its surroundings, suggesting that they are not currently measured within the same measurable, quantifiable and gradable standards that buildings and the built environment are designed and built to. Moreover, the pavilion suggests that connecting these two pillars of city architecture, it is essential to rethink innovation in design. The exhibition asks how architects can quantify the immeasurable values of architecture: agency, attachment, attraction, connection, freedom, and inclusion.

Housing is one of the primary aspects of the architecture profession. There are many ways to explore it, from a subordinate program such as a religious cloister to the splendor of a single-family home. Luis Fernández-Galiano is torn between the "waste" of a low-density area in this type of housing and its seductive formal charm. He reminds us that high-density collective housing, such as apartments, makes more sense in an urban context.

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To think about how we inhabit is to think about architecture. If the primal need for shelter gave rise to the discipline, today, housing remains one of architects' most significant concerns. Providing comfort, seeking innovative materials, respecting memory, transforming culture - multiple layers intersect in a residence's design. Therefore, imagining the synthesis of the contemporary home is a great challenge. In search of new perspectives, we collaborated with Ulises Design Studio to understand how Artificial Intelligence (AI) perceives the contemporary home in the context of 15 different countries. Among data that touches on facts of reality and fiction, the pictures that emerge can bring inspiration and important reflections on spatial practice and the creation of its images.

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The link between architectural photography and archaeology in my work is rather personal. It has more to do with the experiences that can shape one's aesthetic vision, and less with a conscious underlying theoretical framework. A framework still exists of course, as does a particular mode of looking at structures and surface materiality that stems directly from the skill-set acquired through archaeological research.  

Acoustical comfort is a critical element of interior design that should never be neglected, especially in shared spaces such as restaurants, convention centers, museums, sports halls, and many others. Good acoustics can contribute to the occupants' well-being and productivity, while poor acoustics can lead to stress, fatigue, and even hearing damage. This can occur due to external noise, from various sound sources, or impacts (such as footsteps, jumping or moving furniture), but also due to the reflection of sound waves inside the environment, generating echoes and reverberations and reducing the intelligibility of speech in space.